The Ins and Outs of Involuntary Part-time Employment

We develop an adjustment procedure to construct U.S. monthly time series of involuntary
part-time employment stocks and flows from 1976 until today. Armed with these new
data, we provide a comprehensive account of the dynamics of involuntary part-time work.
Transitions from full-time to involuntary part-time employment dominate this dynamics,
spiking up at recessions’ onsets and persisting well into recovery periods. On the other
hand, weaknesses in job creation contribute little to these fluctuations. Our data and
findings are relevant to inform a broader assessment of labor market performance and to
develop models of cyclical labor adjustment.